Advent: The Son of God (Sermon)
INTRODUCTION
This is the fourth week of Advent. Advent is a Christian word for the coming of Jesus. We want to prepare our hearts for Christmas. Advent does that? Christmas is more than Santa Claus, Rudolph the red nose reindeer, and an Elf on the Shelf. It is more than stockings, presents, and Christmas trees. It is about Jesus. Our sermons this season explore who this Jesus was. He was:
The Redeemer,
The Messiah,
and the Son of Man.
Today, we will discuss him as the Son of God, a title central to his importance. He was and is the greatest gift ever given.
SON OF GOD IN THE BIBLE
The term “Son of God” appears 43 times in the New Testament. However, the title doesn’t always refer to Jesus.
For example, in Job chapter 1, verse 6, the Bible calls angelic beings the sons of God.
In Luke chapter 3, verse 38, it refers to Adam, the first man, as the son of God.
Exodus chapter 4, verse 22, and Deuteronomy chapter 14, verse 1 refer to Israel as God’s son.
How do we conclude that Jesus was the Son of God? Let’s examine the New Testament and one hundred perspectives to build that case.
WHAT DID JESUS’S ENEMIES THINK
The first few voices I want to listen to are Jesus’s enemies. Some called him the Son of God in jest. For example, those observing and crucifying him said to him:
“You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” (Matthew 27:40–43, ESV)
His enemies were convinced Jesus was a fraud, a fake, and a nut. They made fun of him and were so upset that they wanted him dead.
WHAT DID THE GENTILE ENEMY THINK
Interestingly, one complicit in this death had a change of heart. He was a non-Jewish guard, managing roughly 100 Roman soldiers. On the day Jesus died, he said,
“Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39, ESV).
What did a Gentile centurion know? He likely believed in many gods like Apollo and Diana and the god’s sons like Romulus or Remus, the founders of Rome. A similar contemporary perspective comes from pastor and author Thabiti Anyabwile. He writes:
I know what it is to reject Jesus as the “Son of God.” As a former Muslim, nothing baffled and, quite frankly, angered me more than hearing Christians call Jesus “the Son of God.” I thought such persons were blasphemers worthy of condemnation. But now, nothing gives me more joy than to know that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and that the title “Son of God” carries far more truth and wonder than I could have imagined. - Thabiti Anyabwile, Author and Pastor
Why is that, do you think? We will get there soon enough.
WHAT DID THE DEMONS THINK
Now, not all of Jesus’s enemies disagreed with his divine sonship. We read in the Bible several conversations Jesus had with demons. They frequently addressed him as the Son of God (Matthew 9:29; Mark 3:11; Luke 4:41). In one example, they cried out,
“ ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he [Jesus] rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ” (Luke 4:41, ESV).
Note that the Son of God was also Christ. Those identities intersect. They melt together like ingredients in a cake. Jesus was the anointed one predicted in the Old Testament. The enemies crucifying him connected Jesus to the King of Israel, and demons connected him to the one who was to come.
WHAT DID THE DEVIL THINK?
What did the prince of demons think? He talked to Jesus multiple times. You may recall that Jesus went into the desert for forty days, led by the Spirit. Alone, he fasted, and at the end of those days, the Devil came to him and tempted him with three temptations. Matthew records:
“And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread’ ” (Matthew 4:3, ESV).
Was Satan buttering Jesus up? The father of lies and the deceiver didn’t want to upset him. He wanted to leverage this identity to get Jesus to do what he wanted. He craved Jesus to follow him and worship him, and, like the demons, he recognized Jesus’s ontological superiority. He could not order him around.
WHAT DID JESUS’S FRIEND’S THINK
But what did Jesus’s friends and followers think? They repeatedly called him the Son of God.
John the Baptist thought he was the Son of God (John 1:34),
Jesus’s twelve disciples thought he was the Son of God (Matthew 14:33; Peter - Matthew 16:16; Nathaneal - John 1:49, John - John 20:31; 1 John 3:8; 4:15; 5:5, 10, 12–13, 20),
The gospel author Mark began his biography by saying he was the Son of God (Mark 1:1),
The gospel author Luke said he was the Son of God (Luke 3:38),
Martha acknowledged he was the Son of God (John 11:27),
The apostle Paul repeatedly said he was the Son of God (Acts 9:20; Romans 1:4; 2 Corinthians 1:19; Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 4;13),
And finally, the author of Hebrews said he was the Son of God (Hebrews 4:14; 6:6; 7:3; 10:29).
The historic church confessions dating back to the earliest times state he was the Son of God. In fact, on Thursday of this week, the Smithsonian published an article citing an exciting discovery of the earliest Christian witness north of the Alps unlocked this year by x-ray imaging technology. The document dates from as early as A.D. 230 and describes Jesus as the “Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” One modern professor said, “No christological designation is as essential as ‘Son of God’; none is more important” (Richard B. Gaffin Jr.). Why did he say that? We will get there.
AN ANGEL’S PERSPECTIVE
But, if you still have doubts, the Bible tells us that one of God’s chief angels, Gabriel, thought Jesus was the Son of God. He spoke to Mary about her coming pregnancy:
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God” (Luke 1:35, ESV).
Let’s finish the Bible’s witnesses to Jesus’s Sonship with Jesus’s perspective and the Father’s.
JESUS’S PERSPECTIVE
When Jesus was twelve, a preteen, he called God his Father. Decades later, Jesus said to Mary and Martha regarding the illness and death of their brother, Lazarus:
“This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (John 11:27, ESV).
Subsequently, Jesus ordered those around to open the grave and told Lazarus to come out. Lazarus, being dead, had been wrapped like a mummy but alive now obeyed. The Son of God raised a man from the dead. This would not be the last time Jesus would rise from the dead. He had a power unlike any other. He was, and is, the Son of God and knew it. Jesus’s followers audibly heard a voice from heaven say, “This is my Beloved Son” multiple times. God the Father viewed Jesus as his Son.
SUMMARY
The evidence is overwhelming. Jesus was, and is, the Son of God. That being the case, so what? How is the Son of God born in a manger so long ago so important? What difference does it make? Or does it?
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?
Here are four reasons this identity is so important:
He is the Fulfilment
He is Preeminent
He is Transcendant
And He is Our Benefit
FULFILMENT
First, Jesus, being God's Son, is a prophecy fulfillment. I say that because of Psalm 2, verse 7, and the following states:
I will tell of the decree:
The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession. (Psalm 2:7–8, ESV)
Poetically, this is a call out to the coming Messiah and King, as predicted in 2 Samuel chapter 7, verse 14. God said to King David that a king would come from his line. This king would reign forever over all the world. Jesus was that king’s descendant who lived forever and would reign over all. This prophecy might be a bit hard to see; however, if we tallied all the predictions of the coming Messiah, there would be between 300 and 570. While some prophecies seem more obscure than others, there are precise prophecies, such as Jesus being born in Bethlehem to a virgin and suffering. Say there were only eight prophecies about Christ, the Son of God, out of the 300. What is the likelihood that anyone would meet those eight qualifications? The chance is one in a hundred quadrillion. That is a crazy large number. You think our national debt is enormous. The probability is 2.8 million times our national debt. Or, put another way, if you flipped a coin fifty-three times and got heads each time, it would be about that same probability. Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, the King of Israel, who came to reign forever over the entire world. He sits in Heaven and awaits the end of this age until the good news is preached to all the world. Then, he will come to judge the living and the dead and rule visibly. The reality is God the Father sent his one and only Son at the perfect time to save us from our hopelessness. His Sonship is an encouragement.
PREEMINENT
He is the Fulfilment
He is Preeminent
The second reason Jesus being the Son of God is important is that he is preeminent. Hebrews 1:5 states,
“For to which of the angels did God ever say,
‘You are my Son,
today I have begotten you’ ?” (Hebrews 1:5a, ESV).
The author assumes the answer is “None.” Jesus is the only begotten Son. What does this mean? I think John chapter 3 (and John 1) helps us see how different he is.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:16–18, ESV)
Jesus was preeminent. Consequently, he is above all demons, devils, and angels. He is categorically different from them and us. Although we are born, we are not like him. There is no one higher and no one who can save. Jesus is the only Son of God. He is above all.
TRASCENDENT
Third, the Son of God is crucial because he is transcendent with the Father.
He is the Fulfilment
He is Preeminent
He is Transcendent
FAMILY RESEMBLENCE
We have four generations of Drydens at Sawyer. We have three generations of
Blakes,
Hagemans,
Haywards,
Klints,
Koehlers,
Mcnabbs,
Siri’s,
Sullivans,
Vander Arks, and more.
You can look at a person or a child, hear their parent’s voice, and see their mannerisms. I love that. In the same way, Jesus bears the mark of his Father. He was and is divine. The Bible is clear: God is one and three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
The religious leaders understood. In John chapter 5, we read:
“This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:18, ESV).
Jesus subtly, and not so subtly, argued for his deity. God’s Word says:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. (Colossians 1:15–19, ESV)
The author of Hebrews says Jesus was perfect without sin, tempted in every way like us but never succumbing (Hebrews 4:15). He was the exact imprint of our Maker, and in John, we read that God. He is transcendent, preeminent, and a fulfillment.
BENEFIT
He is the Fulfilment
He is Preeminent
He is Transcendent
He is Our Benefit
The fourth reason is that the Son of God is essential because it benefits us. What benefit? Our atonement coincides with our adoption. God has made us right with himself, taking away his anger and our guilt. He forgives us, loves us, and calls us friends and family. If Jesus were not the Son of God, we would be enemies.
No other sacrifice could do what we did.
No amount of money could buy what he bought,
No quantity of kindness could correct the course, fix the broken, or right the wrong of our past.
But Jesus came as a baby with the express purpose of living a perfect life and being our substitute on the cross for our sins. He bore God’s anger so we wouldn’t have to. If this were a completely perfect person, he could replace one person’s train wreck, but he was the Godman, infinitely able to take the place of all who genuinely believe in him and want to turn from selfishness to the Savior. God has covered our shame with his perfection. 2 Corinthians says:
“For our sake he made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV).
The Bible tells us that we benefit by faith in Jesus’s work on the cross. Even though the Bible says we were blind to our true spiritual poverty, through grace by faith, we have become a spiritual family, brothers and sisters with Christ, sons, and daughters of the heavenly King (Matthew 5:9; John 1:12, Romans 8:14–16). C.S. Lewis observed, “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” Let me say that again. “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.” If Jesus was not God’s Son, we could never be forgiven, right with the Father, and adopted into his family. Whether we are single, married, widowed, divorced, or lonely, we have one who is with us and calls us his child. Jesus’s Sonship resulted in our benefit.
DISCIPLE’S ARGUMENT
The disciples gave their lives for this Son of God. They saw the Spirit descend on him, and God spoke of him. They witnessed his teaching and authority. He knew what to say when. He predicted the future, walked on water, calmed the seas, fed the hungry, healed the sick, cast out demons, and raised the dead. When he died, he came back to life. They saw it with their own eyes, heard it with their own ears, and felt him with their own hands. They renounced living to accumulate wealth, stuff, and relationships and lived to tell people about this Son of God. And almost everyone risked their lives and lost them, sharing him. So divine Sonship fulfills prophecy, makes him different from all other spiritual beings, equates him to God, and benefits his people.
APPLICATION
So what? I thought of three things regarding Christmas: Accept the Gift, Enjoy the Gift, and Share the Gift.
ACCEPT THE GIFT
Think of a gift you want this Christmas if money was not an issue. Think of anything.
You want land - BAM. You got it.
Do you want a nice car with a warranty, bells and whistles, and a new car smell? BAM. You got it.
Do you want a vacation, a raise, to be the star on the sports team, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, or just a friend? Whatever you want, BAM. You got it!
But Jesus, the Son of God, is greater than all. He is greater than Buddha, Joseph Smith, Mohamed, the Pope, Mother Teresa, and anyone and everyone else. Accept the gift of the Son of God this morning. Friends, accept him for who he is and what he has done. You can do that by just telling God you accept him in your life and want to follow him in his Word.
Please take it. It is yours. Accept it. Please don’t pass it by.
ENJOY THE GIFT
Many of you have accepted it; if you have, my challenge to you is to enjoy the gift of the Son of God. How? Romans 8 is an excellent passage with loads of sonship language reminding us of what we have. It encourages us not to shrink back from fear and slavery of sin once we have understood who God is and what he has done. Too often, we forget Jesus is the Son of God, sent to Earth to make us his people. Look at Romans chapter 8; verse 14 goes this way:
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. (Romans 8:14–17, ESV)
Friends, since Jesus was the Son of God, we who follow his ways are sons and daughters of the King of kings. Be led by the Spirit. Don’t get bent out of shape because things don’t work out as expected. God is moving and calling us to join him on his adventure. And when this journey ends, we will find ourselves heirs with Christ! The passage continues. This gift of Jesus is amazing.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God…. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for …. the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:18–23, ESV)
Our bodies break. We have sicknesses, cancer, vertigo, knee pain, back pain, and heart pain. We have headaches, bellyaches, and earaches. We lose our sight, hearing, and hair. Our strength dissipates, and our mind deteriorates. Friends, we don’t know what our glorified heavenly bodies will be like, but we know there will be no sickness, sadness, sin, or pain in heaven. It is going to be amazing. Enjoy this gift that we get to enjoy more and more.
But there is more. The passage goes on:
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, [You will bear resemblance to God and his Son.] in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:28–32, ESV)
The fact is that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit love you to death. This passage promises he will give you all things. That doesn’t mean everything. The passage goes on to describe what he gives us, namely love.
LOVE OF A PARENT
As a parent or grandparent, do you love your children? Think of your capacity to love. God’s love is greater. You can’t comprehend his extraordinary love. Enjoy this gift of Jesus, the Son of God.
SHARE THE GIFT
He has given us more than enough of himself and his love. We must share the gift. I want to get this across to you, but I need help. I want the younger children in elementary school and under to come up front. You are going to help me make this point. I want you to enjoy this gift. But that is not all. I am going to give you each a couple of Hershey’s Hugs. You can have one, and you are to give one away to someone who doesn’t have one. We want to share the blessings that God has given us. God’s Word says:
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:7–11, ESV)
SONG
In the same way, children, I want you to lead us in singing the song sung in our Christmas program last Sunday night, Go Tell It On the Mountain. We can join in singing, church.
PRAYER
Thank you. Friends, let us accept the gift, enjoy the gift, and share the gift this Christmas season! Let’s pray.
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